Publication details  

The Bundesbank draws up the German balance of payments every month. The results are presented around five to six weeks after the end of the reporting month in the following formats:

• Press release
• Time series database
• Statistical Series – Balance of payments statistics 
• Further tables
• Monthly Report

The exact dates can be found in the release calendar.

Revision policy

When publishing the provisional data for a given reporting month, the corresponding data for the previous month are generally revised (prior-month revision). These revisions contain late and correction reports from reporting parties on external transactions, and other information subsequently made available. 

Further revisions are incorporated or carried out in the following months:

March: Annual revisions for the previous reporting year and the three preceding years are made in the March Monthly Report. These annual revisions factor in late and correction reports, as well as more recent information from secondary sources, and preliminary estimates are either revised or replaced. Methodological adjustments, including those for earlier periods, are carried out at this point.

June: New information from the international investment position and the foreign trade statistics (usually two quarters) is incorporated.

September: New information from the international investment position, foreign trade statistics, national accounts and travel expenditure (usually 12 quarters) is incorporated.

December: New information from the international investment position and the foreign trade statistics, including the annual corrections for foreign trade (usually eight quarters), is incorporated.

In addition to the specified revision dates, unscheduled revisions can also occur. In the event of extensive revisions or the discovery of serious errors, an assessment is made on a case-by-case basis as to whether the analysis of the balance of payments is impaired as a result of the errors and, therefore, whether a correction should be made in the next publication or whether a correction at the next regular revision date will suffice.

Extraordinary revisions are announced separately on the homepage and in the newsletter for the balance of payments statistics press release.